Anchoring base for the lacings of ski boots

ABSTRACT

Ski boots have a special form of lacing comprising a plurality of levers pivotally mounted on one side of the boot and a plurality of loops mounted on the other side of the boot. The levers have a plurality of notches in one face and a selected one of these is engaged by the associated loop and the lever moved to tension the loop, the tension holding the lever in position. The levers and loops are attached to the boot by means of anchoring bases which have an integrally formed single riveting element which is upset following insertion into a hole in the boot to form a quickly made attachment to the boot. Pivotal movement of the anchoring base about the riveting element is possible and this can be restricted by means of integrally formed studs housed in over-size holes in the boot adjacent the main hole throughwhich extends the main riveting element.

baited States Patent [191 Olivieri June 4, 1974 [76] Inventor: lcaro Olivieri, Via Feltrina l0,

Montebelluna (Teviso), Italy [22] Filed: July 31, 1973 [2]] Appl. N0.: 384,345

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 2], 1973 Italy 21896/73 [52] US. Cl. 36/15 AL, 36/50 [51] int. Cl A43b 11/00 [58] Field of Search 36/25 R, 2.5 AL, 50

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,l37,952 6/l964 Shears 36/50 3,570,148 3/l97l Morgan 36/25 AL FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,273.37] 7/1968 Germany 36/25 AL Primary Examiner- Patrick D. Lawson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT Ski boots have a special form of lacing comprising a plurality oflevers pivotally mounted on one side of the boot and a plurality of loops mounted on the other side of the boot. The levers have a plurality of notches in one face and a selected one of these is engaged by the associated loop and the lever moved to tension the loop, the tension holding the lever in position. The levets and loops are attached to the boot by means of anchoring bases which have an integrally formed single riveting element which is upset following insertion into a hole in the boot to form a quickly made attachment to the boot. Pivotal movement of the anchoring base about the riveting element is possible and this can be restricted by means of integrally formed studs housed in over-size holes in the boot adjacent the main hole throughwhich extends the main riveting element.

5 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 41974 SHEET 1 [IF 2 ANCHORING BASE FOR THE LACINGS F SKI BOOTS The present invention relates to an anchoring base for laces of ski boots.

It is known that the lacing of a ski boot normally comprises a plurality of levers pivotally attached at one end to a part of the body of the boot, and a corresponding number of loops or hooks fitted to another part of the body of the boot on the other side of the opening in the upper. In use the loops are engaged with and tensioned by the levers. A plurality of notches are provided in the face of the lever facing the boot, into one of which the loops engage in dependence on the required tension. Both the loops and the levers are attached to the body of a ski boot by means of anchoring bases which themselves are secured to the body of the boot by means of at least three rivets extending through the thickness of the body itself and housed in previously drilled holes into which they are inserted prior to upsetting. In order to assure that the rivets are accurately shaped when upset, and to prevent the upsetting from damaging the material of the body of the boot, particularly from its inner side, each rivet is provided with a washer against the inner wall of the body around the hole into which the rivet is inserted, which is located in position prior to the upsetting of the rivet.'In practice, to fit one anchoring base to the body ofa boot it is necessary first to drill the body and ensure that the holes in the boot coincide with the holes in the anchoring base by placing this in position as a drilling guide. The rivets are then inserted individually into the thus aligned holes, and a washer is placed over the end of each rivet projecting inside the body; finally, each rivet is upset against its washer to effect the desired locking.

It will be appreciated that since each ski boot requires at least anchoring bases (not less than five levers and five loops) the present system of attaching the anchoring bases to the body ofa boot, is a very laborious, time consuming and tedious operation, even for skilled workers.

Moreover it is necessary to maintain a stock of the necessary components (bases, loops, rivets, and so on) and altogether the system has too many disadvantages to provide a satisfactory basis for manufacture.

Further, it would be advantageous from the point of view of the user if the anchoring of the levers and the loops could allow these elements to pivot, even through only a small angle about a normal to the plane of that portion of the body on which they are mounted. However the attachment system described above rigidly locks the anchoring base of the levers and the rings with respect to the body of the boot so that in order to provide a degree of pivotal movement it is necessary to provide a plate which is pivoted to the anchoring base fixed to the body of the ski boot. For economy this arrangement is normally only provided for the loops and the levers are held rigidly by the anchoring base against rotation about the normal to the plane of that part of the boot to which it is attached.

One object of the present invention is to provide an anchoring base for the lacing of ski boots which has both structural and functional advantages over the known type of anchoring base. Anchoring bases of the present invention, in addition to being quicker and easier to assemble (and therefore more economical), also make it possible for both the levers of the lacing of the boot, and also the loops, to pivot to a limited extent about an axis normal to the plane of that part of the body of the boot to which the base is attached, without requiring the use of extra components such as plates, pivots or other such hinging means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an anchoring base which is readily manufactured from available materials (of the type usually employed to produce bases) and with simple manufacturing operations of a usual type, so as to be advantageous from the strictly economic viewpoint.

According to the present invention an anchoring base for the lacings of ski boots comprises a plate-like body from one face of which projects means for pivotally supporting a lever or a loop of the ski boot lacing, and from the other face of which projects a centrally located hollow tubular riveting element which upon assembly of the anchoring base to a ski boot is inserted through an opening in the body of the ski boot and upset to rivet the anchoring base in position.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in perspective a ski boot having anchoring bases made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of one of the anchoring bases of the boot of FIG. 1 suitable for mounting one of the levers of a ski boot lacing, shown in the assembled positron;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the elements of the anchoring base of FIG. 2 showing the relative positions prior to application to the body of a ski boot;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the elements which constitute the anchoring base of FIG. 3, shown in corresponding relative positions;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are, respectively, a side view, a plan view and an underplan view of the anchoring base of FIGS. 2 to 4; and

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are, respectively, a side view, a plan view, and a perspective view of an anchoring base in accordance with the invention suitable for supporting a loop of a ski boot lacing.

With reference to the drawings, the anchoring bases for the lacings of ski boots shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 comprise a plate-like body 1 ofessentially circular form from one face 2 of which extends means, generally indicated by the reference numeral 3, for pivotal support of a lever 4 or a loop 5 of the type mentioned above. From the centre of the other face of the plate-like body 1 there extends a hollow tubular projection 6 the end portion 6a of which has a conically flared bore 7, the narrow end being at the inner end of the flared portion 7. Assembly and fixing of the anchoring base according to this invention to a portion 8a of the body 8 of a ski boot is achieved by inserting the hollow projection 6 into a throughgoing aperture 9 formed in the required position for the anchoring base, and a washer 10 the diameter of which is practically equal to the diameter of the body 1 of the base itself is placed over that part of the hollow projection 6 which extends into the inside of the body 8 of the boot. The end portion 6a of the tubular portion 6 is then upset as shown in FIG. 2, the upsetting of the end 6a of the tubular projection 6 being facilitated by the presence of the conical flared portion 7 in the bore in the projection itself. The anchoring base is thus securely attached to the boot.

It will be appreciated that the assembly and securing of the anchoring base is completed simply by insertion of the projection 6 through a hole in the body of the boot and a single upsetting operation; this may thus be effected very quickly and readily.

Moreover connection of the anchoring base through a central pivot, makes it possible for the base itself to pivot (even if only to a limited extent) in the plane of that part 8a of the body of the boot to which the anchoring base is attached enabling it to adjust its position in dependence on the stresses which occur at the time of lacing the boot and also in dependence on any slight misalignment ofa lever with respect to the corresponding loop. This possibility of pivoting of the anchoring base is desirable so that the lacing can make small adjustments in the case of accidental or other unpredictable stresses, which might otherwise damage the lacing by overstressing it, or might cause the lacing to tend to become undone.

As will be seen from the drawing, the above mentioned plate-like body ll of the anchoring base has two small projections or studs 11 and 12 extending parallel to and in the same direction as the tubular projection 6 and located diametrically opposite one another on either side of the main anchoring projection 6. The small projections or studs 11, 12 are shorter than the thickness of the material of the body of the boot and extend into respective slots 13a, 14a, formed on either side of the main aperture 9 through which extends the tubular projection 6. The presence of the studs ll, 12 is of advantage above all in those bases for which it is desired to limit the pivotal movement of the anchoring base. In fact, should this be desired, the slots 13a, 1411 could be made exactly the same size as the studs ll, 12 so that a standard shape of anchoring base may be used and may be made pivotal or not at will merely by adjusting the shape and size of the holes punched in the body of the boot to accommodate the studs 11, T2 of the base. When the anchoring base is not to have any pivotal movement the apertures 13a and 140 would be small holes, and when pivotal movement of the anchoring base is desired the apertures 13a, 140 would be formed as arcuately curved slots.

The means 3 for pivotally supporting the lever 4 comprise two spaced parallel lugs l5, l6 integrally formed with the plate-like body 1. The two lugs 15, 16 have respective transverse throughgoing holes 17 into which extends a pivot pin (not shown) when a lever is assembled to the anchoring base. in the case of anchoring bases for attaching the loops to a boot, these are provided, as shown in H08. 8. 9 and with a single projection 18 extending as a straight ridge along a chord of the circular plate-like body 1. A bore 19 extends through the ridge along the length thereof and a straight part of a loop 5 engages in this bore 19 when the loop 5 is assembled to the anchoring base such that the ring is freely pivotable in the anchoring base.

The invention described above thus satisfies all the necessary requirements which are discussed in detail above, both technical and economic, and provides an arrangement which can be simply and quickly assembled on an industrial scale.

lt will be apparent to the man skilled in the art that 4 many variations and modifications to what has been described and illustrated by way of example, may be made without thereby departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive concept of this invention.

1 claim:

1. An anchoring base for the lacing of a ski boot, which lacing comprises a plurality of loops pivotally mounted at one end on said boot by respective said anchoring bases and a plurality of levers pivotally mounted on said boot by respective said anchoring bases, said levers having a plurality of inwardly facing notches into a selected one of which an associated loop is engaged when said lacing is closed, said anchoring base comprising:

a plate-like body member having first and second faces on opposite sides thereof;

support means for pivotally supporting one of a said lever and a said loop on said plate-like body, said support means projecting from said first face of said plate-like body, and

a riveting element projecting from the centre of said second face of said plate-like body, whereby said anchoring base may be attached to the body of a boot by inserting said riveting element through a hole in the body of said boot and upsetting the end of said riveting element.

2. The anchoring base of claim 1 wherein said means for pivotally supporting a said lever comprises a pair of spaced substantially parallel lugs integrally formed with said plate-like body and projecting from said first face of said plate-like body, each said lug having a hole extending transversely therethrough, said holes being aligned with one another for receiving a hinge pin of a lever to be mounted on said lugs.

3. The anchoring base of claim 1, wherein said means for pivotally supporting a said loop of said ski boot lacing comprises a ridge integrally formed with said platelike body and projecting from said first face thereof, said ridge having a throughgoing bore extending therealong substantially parallel to said first face of said plate-like body whereby to form a mount for the end of a loop of said ski boot lacing.

4. The anchoring base of claim 1 wherein from said second face of said plate-like body project two studs, said studs being located diametrically opposite one another on each side of said riveting element, whereby upon assembly of said anchoring base to a ski boot said studs extend into preformed holes in the body of said boot to prevent or restrict pivotal movement of said anchoring base about said riveting element in dependence on the size and shape of the said preformed holes in said boot.

5. in combination:

at least one anchoring base according to claim 4, and

a ski boot having a main hole receiving said riveting element and diametrically opposed subsidiary holes housing said studs, said subsidiary holes having the form of arcuate slots to allow a limited pivotal movement of said anchoring base about said riveting element. 

1. An anchoring base for the lacing of a ski boot, which lacing comprises a plurality of loops pivotally mounted at one end on said boot by respective said anchoring bases and a plurality of leVers pivotally mounted on said boot by respective said anchoring bases, said levers having a plurality of inwardly facing notches into a selected one of which an associated loop is engaged when said lacing is closed, said anchoring base comprising: a plate-like body member having first and second faces on opposite sides thereof; support means for pivotally supporting one of a said lever and a said loop on said plate-like body, said support means projecting from said first face of said plate-like body, and a riveting element projecting from the centre of said second face of said plate-like body, whereby said anchoring base may be attached to the body of a boot by inserting said riveting element through a hole in the body of said boot and upsetting the end of said riveting element.
 2. The anchoring base of claim 1 wherein said means for pivotally supporting a said lever comprises a pair of spaced substantially parallel lugs integrally formed with said plate-like body and projecting from said first face of said plate-like body, each said lug having a hole extending transversely therethrough, said holes being aligned with one another for receiving a hinge pin of a lever to be mounted on said lugs.
 3. The anchoring base of claim 1, wherein said means for pivotally supporting a said loop of said ski boot lacing comprises a ridge integrally formed with said plate-like body and projecting from said first face thereof, said ridge having a throughgoing bore extending therealong substantially parallel to said first face of said plate-like body whereby to form a mount for the end of a loop of said ski boot lacing.
 4. The anchoring base of claim 1 wherein from said second face of said plate-like body project two studs, said studs being located diametrically opposite one another on each side of said riveting element, whereby upon assembly of said anchoring base to a ski boot said studs extend into preformed holes in the body of said boot to prevent or restrict pivotal movement of said anchoring base about said riveting element in dependence on the size and shape of the said preformed holes in said boot.
 5. In combination: at least one anchoring base according to claim 4, and a ski boot having a main hole receiving said riveting element and diametrically opposed subsidiary holes housing said studs, said subsidiary holes having the form of arcuate slots to allow a limited pivotal movement of said anchoring base about said riveting element. 